Let me begin this with a quick story. My parents wanted me to know what was going on in pop culture. While being the youngest they sheltered me from some of things in life (MTV was a no go for me until 12 I watched it anyway) they made sure to not let that get in the way of life as a whole. They wanted me to also be cultured. Film was no taboo and they made sure to take me to the latest Disney
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Let me begin this with a quick story. My parents wanted me to know what was going on in pop culture. While being the youngest they sheltered me from some of things in life (MTV was a no go for me until 12 I watched it anyway) they made sure to not let that get in the way of life as a whole. They wanted me to also be cultured. Film was no taboo and they made sure to take me to the latest Disney and Don Bluth animated movies that were released so that I’d understand good cinema. Sometimes they would even take me to see another smaller studios animated work or rent them from Stammy’s Video Store in Hildebrand North Carolina. Other times they would hold flat out say no to take me to a movie or from even renting it. This was either for one of three reasons: A) they had heard from many sources or had seen the movie themselves and did not find it to be good, B ) they had no interest in seeing the movie, or C) They did not understand it for some reason. That final one was the reason that I did not catch this movie during its theatrical run. Enter by older brother. He was the once who knew there were great, or at least interesting, features to be found outside of the norm. He convinced my father to rent My Neighbor Totoro form me when I was sick, he convinced my mother to allow him to take me to see Akira in theaters when I was fourteen, and he rented this for me knowing that it was just something that my parents did not get and had no interest in watching because of that. So because of that I have found memories of watching this film as a kid. Memories that may, in some way, blind me to several of the flaws of this movie when I first saw it. However, I do not believe that those flaws would really hurt the sheer enjoyableness of this film as in the end, while it is no Ghibli Film, it is still a very will done flick.
The animation is on par with Don Bluth’s work at the time. For a reference I’d say look at All Dogs Go to Heaven or The Land Before Time. This means it is a few cuts above the rest. This film is wonderful to look at and visually beautiful. While at points you can tell where corners may have been cut, those moments are brief and are more than made up for with magnificent moments that count for they come at the perfect times. Who cares for example if lip movement may be off for a scene of superfluous dialogue that has little to no importance to the plot, when several scenes later we see animation that was used with the budget saved from that for an amazing action scene full of fluid movements, sharp visuals, and brilliant timing. With those wonderful moments in mind the fact that much of the film still looks great I’m able to excuse the little bits of cost cutting here and there. To add even more love to this, this was the first time I saw this movie in its unedited version. That in and of itself was fantastic because now there was even more visual candy for me to consume and believe me when I say ate it all up like a sleepwalking child eats a pie. This is including a scene that makes the Nightmare King look even more intimidating than he already is.
The voice work is…okay. Mickey Rooney does a great job as Flick bringing his vigor to the part, but much of the rest of the cast seems to just be trying to play the archetypes and not bring anything personal to the parts. They don’t do a bad job, but they just don’t have any true emotion than what is required for the characters. This is kind of sad. Effort was given but not really that of trying to go past what is the status quo of the generalized characterizations. To me this may be one of the movies weakest parts because of it. Bill Martin may be the worst offender of this in his portrayal of the Nightmare King. It’s cold, creepy, arrogant, and slimy, but it just lacks. It is everything that is needed, but just that the extra bit needed is just not there. It seems as though he knew what the Nightmare King was supposed to be and decided “okay, I’ll leave it at that.” And I’m not saying he is a bad voice actor. No, he took over the role of Shredder after Uncle Phil left on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and did a great job. He does a great job, but just so lacking. Mr. Rooney is the only one who seems to add that hoostpa to the role and give a truly loving performance.
The music is decent as well. It’s not forgettable, but not worth remembering either. It is there to do its job. Disney this is not. I would not be clamoring to own the soundtrack to Nemo. There is no “Little Town”, “Be Prepared”, or “Savages to the soundtrack but once again I reiterate it does not fail. It just does what it needs and little more than that.
The story here is what helps make this movie. While I feel there is a little too much repetition on certain points (Nemo returning to his room believing it was a dream twice), this may be were the more enjoyable points really do come out. While the dialogue is not overly mature, it is clever. It does not talk down to kids, but instead give their dues. Nemo learns his lessons as they come to him in his adventures and accepts his mistakes, if not right away then soon afterwards. He is a boy who knows that he is growing up and that with growing up will come new responsibilities. Not all of these will be met with successes, but the fact is that he, like many of us, must learn from these mistakes. He looks to those older, wiser, and/or more experienced than him for help so that he might learn and achieve his end goal. In that I think there is a valuable lesson. Many films portray children, adolescents, teenagers, and young adults as solving their own problems. Here while Nemo is the hero and is the one who eventually defeats the villain, he does so with advice and knowledge given to him. You don’t always have to do something yourself, sometimes it’s good to get help.
In the end Little Nemo is not a perfect movie by any stretch, but with great animation, wonderful story telling, and good lessons to be learned from it I’d say take a look for yourself. On my normal scale I’d give Little Nemo a solid three out of four stars and for those out of ten lovers out there I’d say good seven and a half out of ten. Watch Little Nemo, its well worth it.
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